RQG 23 Hedge Your Bets
Summary The search for Mendeleev continues under Kew Mansion. They find various hostile plants and undead, spore filled zombies guarding the way. Synopsis Sasha hears the scraping further into the room and sees a shambling form. She sneaks after the figure. In the next room she hears another scraping, and sees something that resembles a tentacle. She also sees the mould, and decides to retreat. Bertie suggests they retreat but Zolf shoots him down, saying he is Bertie's boss and they're not retreating. Sasha hears a dragging noise approaching from the room and a low moan. Looking through the crack in the door, Sasha sees a humanoid figure approaching. As it gets nearer, she sees the creature: something that was once a human wearing a lab coat but is now covered in growths, picking up dead creatures from the swarm. Bertie bursts through the door, shouting "Hello!" The creature drops what it was carrying and charges at the party. Zolf swings at the creature while glaring at Bertie, and misses. Bertie destroys the creature. Zolf flings the head of the creature at a wall, where it cracks like an egg, releasing spores. Sasha looks through the lab coat, which has fused with the flesh. In the breast pocket is a wallet with the name 'Friedrich Holtzmann': the man who originally came downstairs. As Bertie considers whether to heal Hamid or Brutor with his healing potion, Zolf slaps Brutor away from him, so Bertie heals Hamid. Zolf realizes that Brutor isn't dead and stabilizes him. Bertie heals him, despite Zolf's instructions not to. The party head into another room filled with filing cabinets, where Hamid hears a tapping, most likely 'SOS' in Morse code. Sasha taps out a reply, and hears a Morse code response that the party do not understand. They follow the pipe which the tapping is coming from. Eventually they find a door that has been broken down. The table in front of the door has also been destroyed. The pipe leads into the room. Bertie power attacks the table and smashes it to pieces, revealing more furniture blocking the shattered door. Bertie starts to shift the debris, revealing a toilet covered in blood and a body hidden behind a sink, as well as a broken vent. Poised to attack, he nudges the body, seeing a corpse covered in the mould, surrounded by dead swarm creatures. A name badge identifies this man as 'Jason O'Connor'. Sasha sees that the pipe goes through the room down into another corridor. They enter another room and prepare for combat. They find that the pipe goes into three different containers. Hamid taps on the first one, where several tiny things with red legs swarm. The second container contains a fern that brushes against the glass as Hamid taps. As they approach the last one, they see steam escaping from the back where Bertie finds a 5 foot hole in the back of the container. Hamid taps on the glass and a human hand presses itself against the container. Quotes * Lydia: I’m trying to stealth after them like cyanide in an almond mix from Sainsbury’s that you might give to some people that you don’t like. - * Zolf: Bertie, you’re not that badly injured. * Bertie: Sir Bertrand to you. * Zolf: No, Bertie. Unless you want to start calling me boss. * Bertie: Sir Bertrand, Sir Bertrand. * Zolf: Subordinate. - * Hamid: We’re adventurers, why are we not trying to deal with the monsters? * Zolf: Because we’re not heroes. * Bertie: I’m a hero. * Hamid: So am I! * Zolf: You’ll end up dead for that. * Hamid: Well, I’d rather die heroically than live my life as a coward. * Zolf: I will ask you that question when you’re in the process of dying, and I think your answer might be a bit different. Get a bit of perspective. - * Sasha: If we follow the thing, maybe we’ll find something that deserves to drown. * Zolf: Oh yeah, that’s one thing. Poseidon is angry. I tried to heal you all... * Hamid: He’s always angry! * Zolf: You don’t know anything (cuts himself off) this is a conversation for another time. * Hamid: Agreed! * Bryn: I stalk off down the corridor, knowing that I am faster than Zolf. Dice rolls and Mechanics Combat Breakdown Zolf steps back and stabs at the creature with his trident. Bertie raises his shield and impales the creature, killing it. Plot Notes Category:Season 1 Category:Episode